Elephant Trekking

9/22/2006

Have you ever ridden an elephant? Well, now I can say that I have. After breakfast we packed up our gear and rod out of the Karen village atop Asian elephants. These elephants were massive, and we sat in baskets on top of the elephant behind the driver, called a mahout, who sat toward the head with his legs behind the beast's floppy ears. We travelled two people per elephant (in addition to the mahout), and the mahout had to have the elephant crouch down in order for us to climb aboard. The terrain was incredible muddy, but the elephants handled it with ease. They were even able to ford a small river that was 4 to 5 feet deep.

Of course, an elephant is not the most comfortable ride. After the first 30 minutes, I think most people were over it. Toward the end it was downright painful due to the lack of padding between the wood basket and my back and under my legs. Nevertheless, I can now say that I've ridden an elephant, which I think is quite unique. After elephant trekking, we had lunch and then took another 5 to 6 hour tsongtau ride back to Mae Sot. At the guesthouse I was able to take a much needed hot shower.